Guest Post from Queen G!

Hello to all you teacher-istas out there! I’m super excited to be guest blogging on First with Franklin. My name is Jonna, but my Kindergarten Pirates call me Ms. G. or Queen G. Hey, if the tiara fits, wear it! ;) I guess I should tell you this is my. first. blog. post. ever! Gasp. You would think with all the blog stalking I do, surely I would create my own, right?! Maybe with some begging and bribing, I might just give in!

I am lucky enough to work at a school that allows me access to my classroom anytime I want it…PTL. I spend 1-2 days (sometimes more) per week in the summer fancying (is that even a word?!) up my room. This year I will begin my fifth year of teaching Kindergarten. I thank the good Lord daily for blessing me with patience and a job that I love more than one should be allowed. ;)

My main focus this summer has been on ORGANIZATION. Ugh…even the word makes me cringe. I am probably the. most. unorganized. person. of. all. time!! This summer, I have cleaned out every single cabinet, drawer, file, tote, and container in my classroom. You name it, I cleaned it out! My rule this summer was, “If I haven’t used it the last 4 years then THROW IT AWAY!” Does anyone else have a hard time throwing stuff away? It seems like every time I throw something away I find myself a week later sitting at my desk with my head in my hands wishing I hadn’t. I heard Kim Adsit speak once at a Kindergarten Teacher Conference and she said, “I border on being a hoarder.” I knew this saying could very well define me if I didn’t part with some things, so I let the organization gods speak to me as soon as school let out! My main problem is that I can turn even the most useless items into something magnificent. Put something in front of me and I guarantee you I can tell you at least one way to turn it into something I can use in or for my classroom. With my latest addiction to Pinterest, I now seem to justify keeping even more stuff for those “just in case I want to ever make that cute thing I found on Pinterest” project.

Anyway back to my Journey into Organization…I found a bargain on 3-drawer totes at Walmart.com this summer. I found these pink (because everything is better in pink) and blue 3-drawer babies for $16 for a set of TWO! 

Can you believe it?! Plus my dad works there so an additional 10% off sure did make the final price look sweeter! My goal is to never again open a cabinet and have 50 million tiny items falling out at my finger tips.  I mean seriously…every time I opened my craft cabinet last year, pompom balls, googly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners, sequins, and other crafty items were screaming “ORGANIZE US!” as they fell out onto the floor beneath me. Is it just me, or do other teachers have problems organizing their craft and art supplies? Thanks to Dollar Tree and Target Dot Spot, it seems I have accumulated more than the necessary amount of crafty items. For some reason I cannot say “NO!” when it comes to $1 items. Who can say "no" to a dollar? I have a little large weakness for Target and the Dollar Tree. Anyway, these 3-drawer god-sends helped me reach my goal of an organized classroom. I spent an entire week sorting pom pom balls, googly eyes, buttons, sequins, stickers, ribbon, glitter, accents, stickers, name tags, desk plates, and other art supplies. Do you even realize how tedious it is to sort googly eyes? You have teeny tiny googly eyes, tiny googly eyes, medium googly eyes, oval googly eyes, large googly eyes, so large you will never use them googly eyes, colored googly eyes, glow in the dark googly eyes, googly eyes with eyelashes…you get the point! I had all of these crammed into one bucket, so every time I did an art project using googly eyes it took me forever to find two that were the size shape and size. Just imagine me sitting in the floor of my classroom with a trillion googly eyes staring back at me to be sorted. All eyes were on me (literally – lol) and I kept thinking, “Ugh…what did I get myself into?!”

So, after a week of sorting and wanting to punch myself in the face for ever starting this crazy Journey into Organization, I can now sit here and say that I may just be the Queen of Organization. I categorized all my sorted goodies and put them into my 3-drawer babies and labeled everything nice and neat on the inside and outside of the drawer. No more supplies falling out of cabinets. No more cursing googly eyes in my head. No more asking myself “Now where did I put…?” Organization just makes me feel better! I can sit here and let out a sigh of relief knowing that I have finally found a way to organize my supplies, locate them easily, and make the most of the space I do have in my classroom. Organization has taken me by storm because last week, I bought two more sets of the 3-drawer babies to keep my students’ change of clothes, paint shirts, and gym shoes in. This way all of their belongings will be in one easy spot for them to find.

So my questions for you are, “How do you stay organized? How do you organize your teacher supplies, craft supplies, and other supplies that you use in your classroom? Do you ever find something buried beneath all of your junktreasures and think to yourself, “I have so many things that I just forgot I even had this?” Let me in on your Journey into Organization top secrets! I would love to know what works for you. I know the start to my journey seems small, but I already feel so accomplished. All this work and big accomplishments only means one thing…I think I have earned a trip to Target Dot Spot! 

- Queen G.Pin It

Tell me more, tell me more- Linky Party!

I'm joining up with Mrs. Lemons at Step into 2nd Grade for her Tell Me More, Tell Me More Linky Party.  Since I started blogging in February, I've met some great fellow teacher bloggers.  I feel like I already know some of you very well, but who doesn't love learning some juicy secrets??? That being said I don't know if I have any really juicy gossip to tell you about myself, but here are some random facts about yours truly.  

1.  Everyone might already know this, but I must share again... I'm a proud dog Mama to Patton and Keva, our two German Shepherds.  My dogs answer to a bunch of different names because we're always calling them by new nicknames.  Aren't they smart?  Some of my favorite nicknames are:

Keva

Kever Beaver

Kevs

Mama (she has pups before we adopted her)

Grandma (she's getting to be an old lady, but still hyper as a puppy!)

Keva Krazy Pants (I always picture crazy with a K for this one)

Patton 

Patter Pats

Patty Pat

Pat-tone

Grumpbutt

Bubbers

I'm also married to a great guy. (I call him Nater Tater quite often.  I think the dogs like their nicknames more than he does his nickname.)

2.  About that great guy... he's a cop.  Yep, that's right... I'm married to the same guy that makes me slam on the brakes when I'm speeding through town and see the black and white car.  When he is in the car with and I slam on the brakes at the sight of a cop car, he laughs at me.  Apparently, by the time you actually see the cop car it's too late to slow down.... Bummer.  

Cop, can you tell?  hehe

3.  I two different colored eyelashes and eyebrows.  White eyelashes on my right eye and black on the left.  Weird, huh?  Also, the hair on the right side of my head is red and the left is brown.  I guess this is kind of like a birthmark or something.  Most people think I've dyed my hair and can't believe that it's natural.  It's hard to find a picture that really shows the coloring.... You can see it somewhat in this picture.

4.  I hate to do put away my laundry and it drive my husband crazy.  If it were up to me I would just live out of clothes baskets, instead of a closet.  Luckily, all I have to do is put away my clean laundry because my husband does the rest... am I a lucky girl or what???? He also vacuums- I so love him!

5.  We have recently started cutting highly processed foods from our diet.  It actually has been pretty easy and we've both lost weight.  The greatest part?  No more low-fat or fat-free foods- only the real, yummy stuff.  So we will eat real butter, drink whole milk, and eat full fat cheese, but no more artificial colors, sweeteners, etc.  The website that really got me started was "100 Days of Real Food".  If you haven't heard of it, you should check it out.  We have more energy and feel so much better without all the junk.  

6.  I love shopping, but hate paying full price for clothes.  I love getting compliments on my outfits- especially when I know how cheap they were.  It doesn't matter to me where my clothes come from- if I think it's cute, I'll buy it!  I love shopping at Kohl's, Target, Walmart, Gap, and J. Crew.  I'm so okay with pairing my J. Crew pants with a Walmart top- I'm not afraid! LOL... and along those lines- I hate most clothes that say the brand name across them.  I have very few pieces that do- mostly PJ's or workout clothes.

7.  My blog posts come off way more restrained and serious that I really am... I'm working on it!  I think I'm afraid of sounding like someone that is rambling and has no idea what they are talking about it, so I hold in my inner commentary.  I've decided to let it out- so BEWARE! *insert evil laugh here*

8.  I feel guilty about charging people for my products, so thus far everything I've posted is FREE.  I know that I'm a cheapo and feel bad for charging people for things.  Did anyone else feel like that in the beginning?  If so, how did you get over it?  Of maybe I should and keep everything free- good karma and all, right?  Hmmmmm..... me thinks I have some thinking to do.... 

9.  I want more followers... so send 'em over people!  I'll do my best to get you more, too!  I feel like if I don't have many followers than it's kind of like I'm talking to myself.  As a cop's wife I spend enough time alone, talking to myself my dogs... that's probably not a good thing- am I right?  Especially, when I start answering for them.  

Me: Do the puppers want a treat?

Dogs (Me):  Yes, Mama, we want a treaty-poo.... please, please, look how good I'm being. I'll sit for a treat!  I love treats!  

Me:  You're such smarty pants, Kever Beaver and Patter Pats.  Mama loves you!

Is that embarrassing enough for ya?  

I hope you've enjoyed my rambling, probably mostly incoherent random facts about Muah (is that how you spell it?  Think Miss Piggy's voice).  

There are about a billion people already linked up (okay almost 300, but WOW!) so I have a lot of blog stalking to do.  Can't wait to find out your inner most secrets!  Peace out!

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Be sure to check out this awesome giveaway to my most favorite place ever!  (Just check it out though, don't enter it, because I want to win! hehe)  She's giving away a $25 gift card from Amazon in celebration of 50 followers!  Way to go, Mrs. G!

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Locked Out!

Starting at noon today, I am locked out of my classroom until Tuesday morning.  I know that I'm very lucky to be able to work in my classroom all summer long, so I'm going to try to enjoy the few days off.  I am planning on using these next few days to spend some quality time with my husband and get some of my to-do list checked off.  I have pretty good to-do list going on:

• design labels for students' book bins
• design labels for students' tubs
• put my "1st Grade Rocks!" poster together
• get R.O.C.K.S.T.A.R. binders put together
• cover my SmartBoard platform with carpet (which also means finding carpet)
• laminating a million things 
• entering Coke Rewards for school
• and the list goes on!!!

I thought maybe typing out the list for everyone to see would help me get started... wish me luck! 

I looked at the calendar today and realized that I have exactly 3 weeks until my kiddos will be back at school.  It is always amazing how quickly the summers slips away!  The hardest thing for me is the day before the kids come back.  Our class lists aren't ever completely finalized until that day, so I'm always stuck with the decision to take my chances and label everything early or wait and label a thousand things in one day. 

I updated these labels- if you haven't downloaded them yet, now would be a good time!

I'm will attach them to the bins I showed you in this post.  (11 labels in all) Get them here.

So, when do you head back to school?  What is the most dreaded item on your to-do list? Mine is going to be a year long to-do... Common Core!  It's still stressing me out.  I did download Sassy in Second's Common Core Notebook from TpT and I'm hoping it will help me out some during this transition.   I love the idea of students having stickers to track our CC goals!  Who doesn't love stickers??? 

Anyone have any other great Common Core Resources to share?  

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UPDATE:  There is something crazy happening- wet stuff is falling from the sky!  It's been so long since we've had rain that I almost forgot what it was like!  Yaaaayyy for rain!  

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My students eat crayons!

Well,  at least that is the only explanation I can come up.  I always keep baskets of extra crayons on a shelf so that students can borrow what they need instead of asking me for them.  In past years I have keep the extra crayons separated by color families like reds, blues, greens, etc.  Like this:

This works okay, but when I ask students to use a red crayon sometimes they color it red violet or some other reddish color. 

That.

Makes.

Me.

Crazy.

I know it seems silly, but on our math tests sometimes I ask students to color one shape green and something else yellow and they grab a yellow green crayon for both.  So when I grade it I'm thinking  "what is that supposed to be?  Surely my little darling did it correctly and just thought they were using two different colors, right?  Right.  Well...."  And it goes on and on.  Maybe I'm too picky, or nuts, but I can't stand it. 

Anyways, back the story.  I decided to sort out the ACTUAL colors into smaller containers.  So, only "red", not scarlett, red violet (or violet red- seriously, is crayola trying to make teachers go crazy?)  This is what I ended up with:

So, obviously, the only logical explanation is that my students eat crayons.  
Okay, maybe not, but geeezzzz!  What am going to do now?  Two black crayons and some little brown fragments.  Do I buy the cheap packs of 24 crayons for the 7 or 8 colors I need or buy the more expensive 8 packs. Bummer.  I decided to leave them on the floor of my classroom and decided what to do another day.
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I did manage to get some other things accomplished today.  Here is what I did to my white board today.  The Rockstar section will have a cutout (maybe guitars or stars, I haven't decided) with each students name.  This is where they will start each morning. 
Our school-wide behavior program has paws that students start with and they lose if they make unfortunate decisions during the day.  At the end of each quarter, we have a party for students that have enough paws left.  That is what the paws lost section will be used for- students will have to move their paws into the corresponding box when they lose paws.  I also made a box for the date and day of the week, obviously.  
I used the decorative tape I got from Walmart (for $.88) to make the boxes and then cut out the words with my silhouette machine.  I'm really happy with how it turned out, except I think I might make the "paws lost" bigger, but maybe not.  

Oh yeah, and see the border?  I put magnets on the back of it so that I can easily move it or take it off. 

Here is my headphone storage idea.  I was going wait to blog about this until it was finished, but I won't be able to finish it up until I get pictures of my kiddos, and I thought someone might want to do something similar before school starts.  I use my Silhouette machine to cut out iPod shapes (because we're rockstars, remember?) and I plan to put a picture of each child inside of the rectangle and then laminate them.  I bought magnetic chip clips at the Dollar Tree to hang them.  Students will drape their earbuds over the clip to keep them tangle-free.  Last year, I was ready to pull my hair out because every time students got out their earbuds they were a tangled mess.  And guess who got to do the untangling??? 

I'm really hoping this will keep them accessible an ready to use at all times.  They are on the side of my filing cabinet- I put some on each side.  

Do you have a brilliant idea for headphone storage?  I would love to know how others stay organized.

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I also want to say a big THANKS to Courtney from Teaching in Paradise for my prize.  I won her 100 follower giveaway and it came today!  I was so excited to get some mail.  Thanks again, Courtney, and congrats on 100 followers!

I don't know why it is sideways.  I give up. 

Have a great evening!

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Newbie Blog Hop

I love learning about new bloggers like myself, so I decide to join in on Grade Three is the Place for Me's Newbie Blog Hop.  

Please visit her blog if you want to join in or check out the other cool, new blogs! 


Here are the guidelines:
1.  what state you are in

    2.  your current teaching position

    3.  your teaching experience

    4.  when you started blogging

    5.  share a blogging tip / blogging resource

So, here are my answers:
1.  I am in Illinois, but not Chicago- there actually is more to our state. ;)
2.  I am currently a first grade teacher.
3. I taught one year of kindergarten in my hometown, then moved to a new town and have taught first grade for the past 4 years.  
4. I really got started in February of this year.  
5.  If I need to learn how to do something, I usually just Google it.  Someone else has had the same problem and has a solution.  And if that doesn't work, just ask someone! 


Now I'm off to check out all the other blogs that linked up.  BTW, I know I posted twice today, but really I didn't because my last post was actually posted last night and then disappeared.  So, I rewrote it and posted it just now.  You followed that just fine, right? LOL



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The Disappearing Post?

So, I just visited my blog and my last post is gone!  Ummm, hello?  Where did you go?  

I know it posted because I had comments on it and everything.... Booo!  Since I shared some links to other's blog I have decided to rewrite it (probably a shorter version though).  
I used my Silhouette Cameo to make some cool pencil toppers for my kiddies.  I think I will use these as a little gift for my "Rock Star of the Day".  I put the toppers on my neon pencils that I got from Walmart for $.88 for a pack of 10.  Cute, right?

I bought the template, instead of making it, in an effort to save my sanity! hehe.  Here is a picture of all of them in the cute baskets that I got from Walmart for $.88 each.  

Does anyone else use the Silhouette machine for their classroom?  Besides labeling everything in sight I'm having trouble thinking of things to do with it for my classroom.  I would love to see your ideas!

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Now, some Pinterest finds.  My brain is mush from thinking about Common Core and the Daily 5 that we're implementing this year, so I decided to look back through my Math Board to find some things I love and things I haven't tried yet.  

Here are some of my faves:

I plan on using these little cuties for my fast finishers or during a math center time.  I'm going to print out on card stock and laminate the pieces so I can use them for a long time.  These are skip counting puzzles.  They will be great for the beginning of the year.  These were made by Haley at My Silly Firsties.  She's sharing them for Free.  I just love FREE!  

Click here to grab it up for FREE!

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My next find is this rainbow activity for Sums of 10.  

I did this with my firsties last year and they loved it.  My talented coworker drew a rainbow outline for me and then with students' help I added the numbers and colored it in.  For some reason, the sums of 10 facts are always hard for my kids to remember, so we left this having for a few weeks to help reinforce the facts.  I first found this idea on Amanda's blog First Grade Garden.  Thanks, Amanda!

I also used this worksheet with the activity.  Here is the link to it, but I don't know the original source.  I did message the Google Docs owner, but if you know who I should give credit to please let me know!

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My last share is this one: A cute color-by-number page with addition and subtraction facts.  This come from Tessa at Tales from Outside the Classroom.  It is also FREE- woohoo!  Love my freebies! :) Click here to visit Tessa and grab it up!

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And here is my last little piece of info:

You know those little thingies that you have to try to read and then type out to prove you aren't a robot?  Annoying right?  Well, they have become even more annoying because now they have numbers that are near impossible to read.  

Well, guess what?  You don't even have to type the numbers in, that's what!  (Could you tell I was doing my best Junie B right there?)

That's right... just be a rule breaker and ignore those numbers!  It will still post your comment.  Nothing like living on the wild side, huh? ;)

For those of you that read both posts- I'm sorry!  I hope this doesn't happen again!  

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Punch Card Rewards

For the past two years, I have had a punch card reward system in my classroom.  It has worked very well in the past and I'm planning on using it again this year (with a few tweaks).  Our primary team met today and decided that we will all use our school's PAW Buck system as our main behavior management program and punch card rewards.  
I'm thrilled that we are using the punch cards, but not having students turn cards will be an adjustment.  I'm ready for it, though, and I think it will be a good change.  
When I had a card turning system, I gave students two punches each day that they remained on blue all day (the best), and one punch for green.  No punches were given if the student was on yellow or red.  I also have a heart shaped hole punch that I used when students were caught being extra good (or received a compliment from another student/teacher).  So, students had an opportunity to earn a full punch card every other week (or sooner with hearts).  I loved that this really focused on my students who always make the right decisions.  I'm always afraid that they don't get enough credit for being sweet and helpful.  
The first year I tried this, I had one page of rewards that students could choose from when their card was full.  Last year, I had three pages and students could save up full punch cards to earn bigger prizes.  I only had one student that managed to hold onto her cards long enough to get to the third page, so this year I decided to cut it down to two pages.  Most of my rewards are things that don't cost a thing - which is great for us poor teachers, right???

You can get a copy of my punch card rewards for free by clicking here. 

I have used Vistaprint in the past to make my punch cards.  They usually (and I just checked and they do right now) have free business cards you can order.  You just have to pay shipping on them.  I tried to pick something with a pretty plain design to leave me plenty of room for 20 punches (4 rows of 5).  This year I decided to change things up a little bit.  I found some really cute little pockets at the Dollar Tree (and forgot to take a picture of them).  They are black with bright colored stars on them and will match our other rockstar items awesomely (that's a word, right?).  They are similar to library card pockets (which our Dollar Tree also had in neon colors).  I don't think the business cards would be big enough to stick out of them, so I made my own.  I am going to print them on card stock and store them in the pockets.  There are 20 stars so when each of the stars has been punched, the card will be full.  

You can download these for free by clicking here.

Aren't these perfect, too???? Heading off to order them in just a minute!  Star punches instead of the stars.  Yay!  It's the little things, you know?  You can find them here. 

What ways do you reward positive behavior in your classroom?  I would love to hear others' ideas.  

Don't forget to "Like" me on Facebook.  :)  I'm hoping to figure out how to link my blog and Facebook page soon- if you have any words of wisdom let me know! :)

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Walmart, Dollar Tree & "Like" Me

Hey all!  I just went on a quick little trip to Walmart to check out what they have ready for back to school time.  I haven't bought my normal supply of glue sticks, crayons, etc. yet, but I did find some super cute stuff!  Almost everything you see here was only $.88!!! Can you believe that?? I believe I paid $ .97 for the packs of neon pencils, but if my memory is correct everything else was just $ .88!  I love a good bargain!  

  

After all the cute stuff I found at Walmart, I decided to run by the Dollar Tree to see if they had anything new.  I found a cool Birthday button for students to wear on their special day, some little bins that I plan on using to store our crayons, and some lacing string that I'm either going to use with my backstage passes or for bead spelling.  I haven't decided yet.  I was also happy to see that they had these baskets in stock:

I plan on using these for our book bins for Daily 5.  I really want to order the cute, colorful bins from Really Good Stuff, but I just can't afford them- we don't get that much money for classroom purchases. I used my own money for all of these things and I can't afford to spend another $90 on tubs.  So these will have to do!  I plan on making some really cute name tags (with a rock star theme) to go along with them.  

And would you look at these??? I always do a cool getting-to-know-you activity the first few weeks of school that I normally call "Star of the Day" (this year, of course, it will be "Rockstar of the Day!".  I take each students picture on their special day and I have star-shaped glasses they can choose from- well look at these.  I was so stinking excited to find guitar shaped glasses... now we will really look the part, right?!?!

 And look at these cool necklaces.  I think I'm going to give one to the "Rockstar of the Day".  I'm so starting to get the in the back-to-school mood now.  Shopping can make me look forward to almost anything! haha

Now, I'm stumped.  My wonderful mother saved these little envelopes from the trash at work.  (I'm pretty sure my hoarding tendencies come from her. hehe)  I hate to throw away perfectly good things and she knows it, so she thought I could come up with a way to use them at school.  Now I'm determined I'm going to think of something really cool to do with them.  They are gift card sized with a window in the front.  The flap on the back says 

To:

From:

Amount:

I'm thinking I can cover that up with a cute stick or something.  If I can't think of something totally cool and creative, I'm sure my little darlings will love using them in the writing center.  What would you do with them?  Did I mention that I have a ton of them?  Seriously, 800..... what in the world am I thinking?   I think I'm going to have to share!  If anyone has a really great idea for them, please, please share it with me!!  Thanks so much!  

 To show the see-through window:

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I finally made a Facebook page for my blog.  Please "Like" me!  You can like my Facebook page by clicking here to visit my page and then hit "Like".  Thanks so much!  :)  Leave me a comment if you have a Facebook page for your blog and I will head right over and like you back!  :)

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Winner, Winner!! and back into the groove!

We made it back safely from Florida yesterday and then had to drive a few more hours to pick up my fur babies.  I think they were just as glad to be home as I was!  

 Patton happy to see Mama!

Keva always naps with her head like this in the car...lol

My sister made this adorable picture for us while we were gone.  Don't my babies have the cutest paw prints?? 

Now that I'm back I have a lot to do!  All of my primary grade co-workers are coming over on Tuesday and I still want to make them a little something, along with cleaning house some more.  I hope to get into my classroom some more this week, so that maybe I can FINALLY start posting some "after" pictures that I've been promising.  So much to do and our summer is quickly slipping away!  Registration is only two weeks away! *EEK!*  

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...and now for the 100 follower giveaway WINNER!  

The...

Winner...

Is...

Crystal from Teaching Little Miracles!!!

She won by blogging about my little contest- pays to be nice, huh? :)  

I'm so happy that such a great follower and fellow blogger won.  Keep sending your friends over so we can have another giveaway when I hit 300 followers!!!  I'm really starting to get to know my fellow bloggers and I'm loving this little community.  

I loved the freebies that everyone shared, too.  What a generous group of teachers we have!  Thanks to everyone that entered!  

That's all for today... I'm hoping to squeeze in a nap later.   What is the deal with needing a vacation from my vacation??? haha

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The gals over at Teacherific are having their very first giveaway- for $25 Target gift card. What teacher couldn't use that?  So get over there and enter now!

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Heading home and the LAST DAY to enter giveaway!!!

We are heading for the airport as I type this. We had a great week in Florida, but I am ready to be home. I think vacations always make me thankful for my own house- cant wait to sleep in my own bed and see my fur babies.


Have you entered the giveaway yet? If you haven't, do it NOW! I will be announcing the winner tomorrow. I have loved looking at everyone's freebies. I haven't commented on everyone's yet because I'm on my phone, but I will soon.

I will leave you with a few quick pictures. I have no idea where/how they will show up because I've never used the Blogger app to post before. I hope they are posted somewhere!y husband and nephew sword fighting, Seussville at Universal, adult night out, and heading for the airport. :)

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Vaca tomorrow and giveaway reminder!

Leaving on a jet plane.... don't know when I'll be back again...

Actually, I will be back next weekend, but still I'm super excited!  We're heading to Orlando for a week!  My wonderful in-laws have a great time-share at Orange Lake Orlando and we're all going on a vacation together.  Doesn't it look great??

The hubs and I are doing Universal Studios, Clearwater Beach, and a Disney water park with everyone.  The others are filling up the rest of the days with Disney.  We decided that we would lounge by the pool and take it easy on those days (and hopefully get some shopping in).  The crazy thing is Orlando is actually cooler than Illinois right now!  I can't believe I'm heading to Florida to cool off!!  It was 104 here today- and has been for at least a week.... insanity!!!!!
Anyways,  while I'm gone, please keep spreading the word on my Freebie Linky!!!  We have some really great freebies already linked up- don't you want to add yours???
And don't forget- you can win a $20 Amazon gift card.  It's easy to enter- and you get up to 5 chances to win.
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100 Freebies Linky Party and Giveaway!

In honor of me reaching 100 followers, I'm putting some FREE things on here today.  These are things that I have made for my own classroom, for one reason or another.  A couple are things that I have posted before, but you may have missed.  Others are things that I haven't posted before.  These are some of my favorite things that I've made.  I hope you like them!  

Dr. Seuss Poster- get it here. 

Think Poster- get it here. 

UPDATE:I have to apologize.  I love to offer things for free on my website, but after reading (closely, this time) I realized that I'm breaking the rules...  I'm a little embarrassed and very apologetic.  To the makers of the graphics I've used and to you.  To sum it up- I can sell things that I make with the graphics, but I can't give them away for free.  Oops.  Whoops.  Sorry.  Really.  
So, here is what I decided to do.  I put several things together into one file for you and I'm only going to charge $2.  Hopefully this okay with you.  I really do apologize.  I would be more than happy to make small changes to any of my files to make them work perfectly for you and your classroom.  Find them here. 

Rock Deskplate- get it here. 

Crayon tub labels- get them here.

Backstage Pass (I plan to blog my plans for these later)- get them here. 

If you've followed me for awhile, you probably know that I'm all about the FREEBIES!  So, I'm hosting... 100 Freebies Linky Party!  I would love for you to join us!  My goal is to have 100 Freebies available for everyone!!!!  
Just choose your favorite freebie that you have made and link up with post with me!  I hope that this is a great way for everyone to get something for nothing! :)

Want to hear the best part about being part of my linky party???? One lucky blogger who linked up for a $20 Amazon gift card!!!  Who couldn't use that??  You can have up to 5 entries- one for following my blog, one for linking up, and three entries for blogging about the 100 Freebies Linky Party!!  So, what are you waiting for- link up now!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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